‘Drink Champs’ Hosts N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN Take Over ‘Rap Radar’

‘Drink Champs’ Hosts N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN Take Over ‘Rap Radar’

Worlds collided on the Rap Radar podcast with B.Dot and Elliott Wilson as rapper N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN of the Drink Champs podcast stepped up to the mic as guests on episode 5.

“We were competing with you guys and I wanted it to be funny. I wanted people to know this was fun,” said N.O.R.E. of the friendly podcast rivalry. “We’re both competitive. I never really took anything to heart or personal. I don’t [even] let my son win at basketball.”

Whilst popping bottles and sipping on liquor, the Drink Champs duo offer more quotables that span from launching the podcast to piecing together the 1997 CNN classic The War Report. N.O.R.E. and EFN also talk about JAY-Z’s 4:44 project, repping LeFrak, working with Pharrell for his forthcoming song “Uno Mas,” age-ism in hip-hop, bringing wifey to work and more.

Some highlights:

“I think the reason why Drink Champs works so much is because we really wasn’t trying to be successful. We was trying to have a good time, bug the fuck out and I didn’t really want to interview artists I didn’t know about.” — N.O.R.E.

“I’ll tell you the truth. If a rapper doesn’t have a record out or isn’t active, they’re going through something. It’s addictive, too. When you’re like the man on Monday, it’s hard not to be the man on Wednesday.” — N.O.R.E.

“I never felt like I was making an album during War Report, I just felt like I was playing my part.” — N.O.R.E.

“[The Firm] was the first brick to my solo career.” — N.O.R.E.

“EFN is my partner, he’s probably the most stubbornest person I ever met, ever in life. He’s from vinyl era and he sticks with it. To me, that’s a certain type of hip-hop. He knows the era of a DJ where you held the crates. I always respect those DJs more.” — N.O.R.E.

“I think people who are genuine, especially in the industry, you rarely find truly genuine people and I think that’s why me and [N.O.R.E.] click. His music is really a reflection of who he really is. I like when I see that in artists from any generation. I think he’s kind of exaggerating how old school I am in my mentality. He gave me more white hairs right now.” — EFN

“Every rhyme that came to my mind was negative ‘cause you can’t be happy on this beat. So I took Pharrell to my ol’ joint and I was like, Man, you’re not the only happy person in the world. You can’t take up all the happiness. Like I’m actually happy, Pharrell … I wanted “Frontin’” and “Happy” to have a baby and I’m the guy delivering it. He’s never heard the grown N.O.R.E.” — N.O.R.E.

“I always felt like Capone should have done [VH1 show] Love & Hip Hop, should have done a show like that just to resurface who he is. He’s Capone from Capone-N-Noreaga. He’s got classic albums under his belt. He went hard on his solo [career] so I just felt like he needed some type of reality show push for us to come back together…” — N.O.R.E.

“This $20 million dollar campaign with Budweiser [JAY-Z had] sent a ruckus through everybody at Def Jam. So [Cam'Ron] had led the cavalry. He was like, “Man, I’m going to ask to be released.” So he went to be released and he came to me. This was when me and Cam were close, and he was like yeah, they released me just like that … So I went to ask to be released immediately [at Def Jam] because I thought the independent route was it. I was lied to … It was the worst thing I ever done.” — N.O.R.E.

Relax (N.O.R.E. voice), grab a drink and watch the content kings chop it up in the full episode below.

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